Gluten-Free Croissant-Style Pastry

Croissant-style pastries with real buttery layers, made by locking a cold butter block into a psyllium-based gluten-free yeast dough and folding it three times. It is a weekend project, and the reward is golden, layered crescents.

Prep: 60 min Cook: 25 min Total: 420 min Serves: 12

At a glance: This hard baking recipe yields 12 servings in about 7h (60 min prep, 25 min cook). It uses 12 ingredients — including milk, instant yeast, granulated sugar — and walks through 8 steps. Updated October 24, 2026. Browse more baking recipes or return to all gluten-free recipes.

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Cross-Contamination Warning for Gluten-Free Croissant-Style Pastry: When preparing this baking recipe, rolling pins and pastry boards hold flour in their grain. Roll this dough between parchment or on a freshly washed nonporous surface. Flour dust travels. Bake this on a day the kitchen is not also handling flour that contains gluten, use clean bowls, beaters and baking sheets, and keep the gluten-free flour blend in its own sealed container.

Gluten-Free Notes for Gluten-Free Croissant-Style Pastry: The laminated dough is made with a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend, psyllium husk and xanthan gum instead of flour that contains gluten. Use psyllium, instant yeast and a flour blend labeled gluten-free.

Scale Recipe:

servings

Ingredient amounts update automatically

Instructions

1 Whisk the warm milk, yeast, 1 tbsp of the sugar and the psyllium husk powder. Let stand 5 minutes until gel-like. In a stand mixer bowl, whisk the flour blend, xanthan gum (if using), remaining sugar and salt. Add the gel, egg and 2 tbsp soft butter and beat with the paddle on medium for 3 minutes into a smooth dough.
2 Pat the dough into a 6x8-inch rectangle on plastic wrap, wrap it and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3 Make the butter block: put the cold butter and 1 tbsp flour blend between two sheets of parchment and pound and roll it into a 6-inch square. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until cold but still bendable without cracking.
4 On lightly floured parchment, roll the dough to an 8x12-inch rectangle. Set the butter square in the center, fold the dough over it from both sides and pinch the seams to seal.
5 Roll the package into an 8x18-inch rectangle, using the parchment to lift and fold. Fold it in thirds like a letter. That is the first turn. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Do two more turns the same way, chilling 30 minutes after each, then chill for 1 hour after the third.
6 Roll the dough to an 8x24-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Trim the edges and cut 12 tall triangles with 4-inch bases. Cut a small notch in the middle of each base, then roll each triangle up loosely toward the tip and set it tip side down on a parchment-lined sheet, curving the ends.
7 Cover loosely and let rise at cool room temperature, about 72-75°F, for 1 1/2-2 hours, until puffy and jiggly. A warmer spot melts the butter layers.
8 Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Brush the pastries with egg wash. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the oven to 375°F (190°C) and bake 12-15 minutes more, until deep golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Tips & Notes

Keep the butter block and the dough at the same chill, cold but bendable. If the butter cracks inside the dough when you roll, let it sit for 5 minutes; if it starts to soften and leak, put it back in the fridge.
Use the parchment, not your hands, to lift and fold the gluten-free dough for each turn. It tears more easily than standard pastry dough, and patching small tears with a dusting of flour is normal.
Do not rush the rise in a warm oven. Croissant-style pastries that proof above about 78°F lose butter onto the pan and bake up greasy instead of layered.

Common questions

What if the butter cracks or leaks while rolling the croissant dough?

Keep the butter block and the dough at the same chill, cold but bendable. If the butter cracks inside the dough when you roll, let it sit for 5 minutes; if it starts to soften and leak, put it back in the fridge. Chill for 30 minutes after each of the first two letter folds and for 1 hour after the third.

Why do the croissant-style pastries rise at cool room temperature?

Let the shaped crescents rise, loosely covered, at about 72 to 75°F for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until puffy and jiggly. A warmer spot melts the butter layers. Pastries that proof above about 78°F lose butter onto the pan and bake up greasy instead of layered, so do not rush the rise in a warm oven.

What cross-contamination risk is specific to Gluten-Free Croissant-Style Pastry?

Check milk, warmed to about 110°F, instant yeast, granulated sugar before they go into Gluten-Free Croissant-Style Pastry. Rolling pins and pastry boards hold flour in their grain. Roll this dough between parchment or on a freshly washed nonporous surface. Flour dust travels. Bake this on a day the kitchen is not also handling flour that contains gluten, use clean bowls, beaters and baking sheets, and keep the gluten-free flour blend in its own sealed container.

Which gluten-free swaps does Gluten-Free Croissant-Style Pastry use?

Gluten-Free Croissant-Style Pastry relies on 2 tbsp psyllium husk powder, 3 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour blend, 1 tsp xanthan gum and 1 tbsp gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. Keep those gluten-free-labeled products in place of a gluten-containing flour or sauce.

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